Made in Dagenham is one of those based on real events films that leaves you feeling good about yourself after leaving the theatre and you learn something that you didn’t realize that influenced how things are done going forward and that is Equal Pay for Women.

Sally Hawkins plays Rita O’Grady a machinist for the Ford Motor Company’s plant in Dagenham, UK in 1968. At the start of the film, we already know from Bob Hoskins’ Arthur, the plant’s union rep, that the women are ready to take work action but Rita takes a step further and wants to be paid the same as the men in the plant since their job requires the same amount of skills as the men.

The film is filled with great performances from Hawkins, Hoskins and Miranda Richardson as Barbara Castle, the Minister of Labour at the time.

Director Nigel Cole does capture the era with the costumes and music that it made me feel that I was in the 1960s. Despite the wonderful performances and I appreciate the fact that if the women of Ford Dagenham didn’t do what they did, women of today wouldn’t have the same salaries as men, there was something a bit too predictable and neat and tidy in the storytelling. All the characters are stock/stereotypical characters you would see in a film of this nature: a sassy, intelligent woman that knows how to rally the troops, the husband who is not so supportive but becomes supportive as the film draws to a close, and the timid woman that doesn’t stand up for herself or what she believes until that last minute. All those characters are in the Made in Dagenham.

But if you love inspirational based on real-life events and you enjoy Sally Hawkins, then see Made in Dagenham as it is a well-made film with good performances.